Reel World

Good News

Being in the newspaper business in New Mexico, I’d have to call The Sun Never Sets a vital piece of documentary filmmaking. Directed by Ben Daitz, the film ponders why the Rio Grande Sun, published in tiny Española, NM, is considered one of the best weekly newspapers in America. Perhaps it has something to do with founder, editor, publisher and quintessential newspaperman Bob Trapp. The last of a vanishing breed, Trapp has labored to bring scrupulous investigative journalism to small-town America for decades. The film will screen Saturday, Feb. 9, at Guild Cinema starting at 12:30 p.m. Daitz will be in attendance to talk about the film. There will also be some bonus short films by Ned Judge, including “I Loved It, I Loved It All,” a rarely seen video essay by Edward Abbey, author of The Monkey Wrench Gang. Seating is limited, so get there early. This one deserves to sell out.

Join the Club

Guild Cinema, in conjunction with the American Vaudeville Museum, launched the Albuquerque Film Club in January. AFC is dedicated to reviving interest in all sorts of cinema—from silent classics to productions from the big studio era to little-seen independent movies from more recent years. This social, as opposed to scholarly, group is designed for people who enjoy watching movies on the big screen in the company of other film lovers and then sharing their observations. The AFC hosts movies at Guild Cinema on the second weekend of every month. After the show, audiences are invited to a local café to gab about cinema to their heart’s content. Membership is a mere $15 per year and entitles members to a discount of $3 off the regular ticket price of $5. The next screening takes place this Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. It’s Alastair Sim’s 1954 English school days comedy The Belles of St. Trinian’s (which was recently remade as a popular trilogy starring Rupert Everett).

Stache-tastic

Word is that Oscar host Seth MacFarlane (creator of “Family Guy”) will be shooting his next feature film (following the mega-successful Ted) right here in New Mexico. McFarlane will reportedly write, direct and star in the Blazing Saddles-esque cowboy pic A Million Ways to Die in the West. Charlize Theron is being eyed as McFarlane’s costar, which would make for her fourth New Mexico-made feature after The Burning Plain, In The Valley of Elah and North Country. Location scouts came to check out the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad in Mid-December, and now local casting queen Elizabeth Gabel has put out the news that she’s casting for background extras, particularly ones with “lovely, long, manly handlebar mustaches. The bigger the better.” If you’ve got the follicles, head over to egcasting.com. The film is expected to begin shooting in early spring.